Tight-rope walking – and a window on a ruthless world.

All in all, not a bad writing day yesterday. My target has long been two thousand words a day but, more recently, I have become less concerned with quantity – which I’ve trained myself to achieve - than with quality. Of course quality is subjective but one tends to get a sense of it, even in relation to one’s own writing, with experience. Or so I like to kid myself.

Writing, like tight-rope walking without a net between high buildings on a blustery day, is an irrational act that is hugely dependent on faith in one’s talent to survive. Faith, in this context, is defined as: " Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence." Hmm!

The snow is pretty but, in the broad light of day, a little skimpy. Indeed, I blush to confess that I can see blades of grass on our lawn poking up through it. Penguins and polar bears would chortle derisively. At night it all looks rather magical, especially because so may of the houses around here are festooned with lights.

We braved the I-81 last night and went to see ‘Syriana’ in Martinsburg. I found it chilling, possibly because I have considerable contact with that particular cruel and ruthless world so could not regard it as fiction. It's an excellent movie but I suspect some will find it decidedly confusing. But so is the reality.

If you want to see our tax dollars at work, go and see ‘Syriana’ – and ponder the implications.